Daily Staff Writer

Fit The Groove

Good Things

The world of local music is riddled with shoddy demo tapes and musicians trying to get started on the road to fame and riches.

It is a tough road, marred with all types of unforeseeable potholes, and a series of awkward hoops that upcoming bands must go through.

One of the latest bands to begin this journey is Ames’ own Good Things.

After playing countless parties, packed bars, as well as empty ones, Good Things now stands ready to unleash its first CD, Fit The Groove, a 12 track, foot tapping, sing along disc that will come as no surprise to the band’s loyal and growing fan base.

For fans of the band, the disc provides a chance to take the band home and keep them there long after the bars have closed. For everyone else, it gives them a chance to sit and hear some talented musicians do what they enjoy doing: play music and have fun doing it.

Led by the free-flowing, fluid vocals and creative lyrics of Maggie Kolbe, Fit The Groove sends listeners floating on tracks like “Away From You” and “Forever and a Day.”

While Good Things may still be a local band, they have been able to produce a quality CD worthy of notice.

Bar favorites like “Johnny’s Little Helper” transfer fairly well onto the CD only loosing a little of the fuel that burns during a live show.

Kolbe’s supporting cast of equally talented musicians consists of Jim Brennan on rhythm guitar, Chad Noyes on bass, Rob Merz on lead guitar and Jason Laszczak on drums. Each brings his variety in musical tastes to the disc.

If you are starving to hear a good local band, than this CD is for you. But if you’re expecting the next R.E.M., this might not be the one.

3 1/2 stars

— J.R. Grant

Editors note: Good Things will be playing at People’s Bar and Grill tonight for its official CD release party. Copies of Fit The Groove will be available throughout the night.

Nowhere Soundtrack

Various Artists

Chemical Brothers, 311, Hole, Radiohead, Elastica, James … sounds a lot like an alternative music awards show. But no, the artists are actually just a part of the line-up featured on the soundtrack for Gregg Araki’s latest flick Nowhere.

The movie is described as a “Beverly Hills 90210” episode on acid. The soundtrack, however, is drug free and includes very little original work.

311 contributes “Freak Out,” an alterna-party anthem found on the bands debut Music. Hole treats Nowhere to “Dicknail,” a typical angry bitch-rock track also available on her debut Pretty On The Inside.

The list goes on with above average songs taken from artists’ past albums. In Manson’s case, a remix version of “Kiddie Grinder” makes it onto the record but adds little to a song that could have used a good rearranging.

Ruby’s remix of “Flippin’ The Bird” is a plus, but again, is available on the band’s latest remix E.P.

A twisted version of “Killing Time” debuts Coco and the Bean, a kind of Garbage meets Tricky blend.

Other fresh acts include Curve and the industrial outfit Massive Attack, neither leaving much to remember them by.

The record’s big saviour is the draft punk remix of Chemical Brothers’ “Life Is Sweet.” The mix-mastering duo explore a disco-esque techno sound on the song, and not surprisingly, do it quite successfully.

James’ “Thursday Treatments” ices the little bit of cake with a bandwagon-jumping trip-hop experiment. That’s right, James doing techno (too bad he doesn’t sing on the tune).

Nowhere is a good sampling of a diverse group of artists. From Chuck D to Radiohead, the record covers the shelves of any basic music store. It’s a shame a very small amount of the material is new.

3 stars

— Corey Moss

Rapt

Rebecca Blasband

The potential is definitely there.

With her heady first CD, Rapt, Rebecca Blasband has dished up a smorgasbord of styles and textures from the grunge/guitar rock variety.

Blasband has escaped all the pitfalls typical of a first release. The writing is diverse, playing to Blasband’s flexibility as a vocalist. But like most young artists, Blasband has yet to learn which particular mixes best suit her.

The CD is a bit schizophrenic in this respect, zig-zagging between bad Seattle band and Sarah McLaughlin-like, sinuous ballads. The ballads work. The heavy rock doesn’t.

However, the sonorous quality of Blasband’s voice prevails and makes Rapt worthy of the Mercury label.

Tracks 4 and 9 are especially satisfying: “6 ft. off the ground” and “everything that rises must converge,” respectively.

Blasband is also careful to avoid the lyrically mundane: “I’m 6 ft. off the ground/bluer eyes looking shy/dreaming up an alibi/dirty feet walking sweet/saying that you’ll come for me.”

Even with its bumpy patches, this disc is a solid start for young Blasband.

3 1/2 stars

— Tracy Lucht

All ratings are based on a scale of zero to five stars, with five being The Daily basketball team and zero being The Campus Reader team.